Intimacy
by CaptainKrueger
Summary: Imagine a world where Bakura's not evil, so therefore can maintain something somewhat substantial with another person, but is still an incorrigible jerk. He's involved with Ishizu, who is really the one calling the shots in their affair. Now imagine that she wants an actual romance and so grows tired of their arrangement. AU. Full summary inside. Exoticshipping.


Summary: Imagine a world where Bakura's not evil, so therefore can maintain something a little substantial with another person, but is still an incorrigible jerk. He's involved with Ishizu in this world, who is really the one calling the shots in their affair. Now imagine that she wants an actual romance and so grows tired of their arrangement, and decides to call it off instead of trying to "change" Bakura's ways. And add Mai, who observes from a distance and also offers Ishizu her own ideas on how to deal with the situation. AU, somewhat tweaked characterizations. Exoticshipping.

They had their arrangement: He was free to enter her dwelling if her saccharine, spring-themed door hanger was not hanging from the doorknob, and then he was expected to leave while she was in the shower. They were intimately involved with each other in a physical sense, but they did not share the emotional intimacy of true lovers. No, they were not lovers, not by her understanding of the word. Lovers, by her definition, had an emotional connection; lovers were there for each other in good times and bad, not for just a quick, temporary union. If she felt that connection to Bakura, she would not kick him out as soon as the fun ended; she would let him stay and enjoy his company for the night.

But Ishizu did not want to be Bakura's lover. She felt no need to be closer to him than she was. It made things easy. Her roommate Mai had described them as friends with benefits—actually, the term that Mai had used was cruder than that—and Ishizu had chuckled humorlessly and said, "We're not friends."

Indeed, they were not. Not that it mattered to Ishizu. After all, Bakura kept coming back for one reason, and she let him for that same reason. Things had been fine between them in the beginning since they wanted to keep their relationship uncomplicated. "No emotions, no attachment, no problem," Mai had muttered as she checked her makeup in the mirror for any smudges and other imperfections before going out for the night. "Isn't that right?"

And things had been uncomplicated for a while. In fact, Ishizu had set the expectations for the way their affair would run the first night they had gotten involved with one another. As they lay panting on her bed, she drew a sheet around her, looked at Bakura, and she told him, "Lock the door on your way out." Covered in the thin gray sheet, and set on taking a warm shower, Ishizu then padded to her bathroom and shut the door without another word or another glance to Bakura.

Words were not wasted between the two; they were in her room almost as soon as he stepped inside of her home, and very few words were exchanged. After all, Bakura never came over to simply spend time with her, and she certainly was not going to extend her invitation. He visited, and then he left, and life went on until the next time they saw one another. The pillow next to hers was as bare as it had been before he had arrived, and Ishizu would sleep alone.

And that was when the problem finally arose. Ishizu eventually found that she was starting to desire a relationship that had more depth than what she had with Bakura, and that went against the reasons why she had allowed herself to get involved with him in the first place. A few weeks after the bitter failure of a previous relationship, her brother Marik had introduced her to Bakura at a mutual friend's surprise birthday party. Ishizu and Bakura had gone to the quiet kitchen to talk, as they detested loud music and large crowds, but nevertheless came to the party because Marik had dragged them to it.

Ishizu never claimed to hold her liquor well, and so two drinks had loosened her lips. Not in her usual control of herself, she had told an absolute stranger about her resentment, how she secretly disliked being alone and yet was not ready for something substantial with someone.

Knowing who Bakura was, it did not make much sense that he would bother to put up with her rambling—unless one considered that Bakura had probably realized that an opportunity had presented itself. Calculating as he was, Bakura had suggested their current arrangement a few days after the party, telling Ishizu that they both could enjoy the physical aspects of a relationship without feeling obligated to do anything special for one another. It had seemed like the best of both worlds to her at the time, for she had thought that it would be some time before she would desire an actual relationship.

Yet now she did. She was not completely certain as to when exactly this want had grown inside of her, but she assumed that it had maybe started one evening when she, eyes glazed over as she stared at nothing, had rested her head against her arm in the shower as the warm water ran over her. She was not even sure how to classify the emotion she had felt that night, but she certainly was experiencing a moment of emotional numbness different than what she usually did. She normally felt cool indifference when she stepped into her shower, but this was different.

Ishizu did not want to feel that way concerning Bakura again, so she had left the door hanger up for several days in a row so she could spend her nights alone or with Mai whenever her roommate was around. "No nookie for Ishizu tonight, huh?" Mai teased when she had come home to see the door hanger up the second night of Ishizu's break from seeing Bakura.

Ishizu, wrapped in a blanket as she watched a movie put on TV, had smiled blandly and said, "No, Mai."

Although, the hanger did come down eventually. Ishizu knew that she was in trouble a few nights after she had let him back in, for she found herself hoping as she stepped out of the shower that Bakura had broken her rule and had decided to stick around. Of course he had not. She exhaled and tightened the strings on her bathrobe as she stared at her empty bed, counting herself fortunate. After all, she was slipping, and she did not want her emotions to be mixed in with the situation more than they already were. Who knew what she would have done if Bakura had actually spent the night? Would she falter even more after having the opportunity to lie close to him?

A few months of an emotionless relationship was clearly her limit. While it was true that she had the company of another person, she still found herself lonely. She had thought that she could go for some time without wanting any more of a connection than she already had, but Ishizu was starting to wish for more. Ishizu was starting to wish that she had the kind of relationship where she could lay her head on her partner's chest, that she had someone who actually cared about how she felt, someone to nestle close to when watching a movie. And the fact that she was starting to fantasize about doing that with Bakura worried her. She could not allow herself to indulge in such silly fantasies. Bakura was not the type of man to grow close to.

"You know how this would turn out if you were in one of those romantic comedies, right?" Mai asked her as they sat talking on Ishizu's bed.

Ishizu chuckled at the thought of Bakura changing into an affectionate, open person because their relationship had affected him that much. She did not use the word impossible very often, especially when involving a person's behavior, but she was sure that the thought of her relationship with Bakura becoming romantic came as close to the word impossible as it possibly could. "But Bakura could never be the hero of a movie like that," she replied, chuckling quietly.

Mai chuckled dryly. "Imagine that. His loss, though," she said. "But I do know how you can end things and make him think that it was his idea to call it off."

"Is that so?" Ishizu asked her roommate.

"Yeah, it always makes things easier if they think that they came up with the idea," Mai replied crisply.

"You have experience in this field, don't you?" Ishizu muttered, but nonetheless smiled fondly at her friend.

"Course I do," Mai replied. "I was in your shoes for a while, I think you'll remember."

Ishizu nodded, remembering how a year ago it had been one man after another with Mai for quite some time. It had gotten to the point where the pretty blonde woman hardly bothered to introduce her new beau to Ishizu since her relationships hardly lasted more than a few months apiece. Of course Mai had changed her ways since then, and she casually referred to her past self as a bit of a maneater. _Why deny what happened?_ Mai would always ask with a nonchalant shrug.

"Of course," Mai continued, "I was much worse, seeing how it was kinda like a game for me. But it seems to me that you don't want this to become a habit, right?"

Ishizu nodded.

Mai smirked and then lay on her side and looked up at Ishizu. "Then what you need to do is look at him with a disgustingly sweet smile on your face, maybe even put your hand on his arm of shoulder, and say, 'I think I'm falling in love with you.'" Mai laughed and lay down on her back, adding, "That'll get rid of him."

"That could be considered passive-aggressive by some," Ishizu admonished her laughing roommate.

"It works like a charm on the right guy," Mai giggled. "Or you could stare into his eyes like a maniac and tell him that you hope your future children have his eyes. That'll work on any guy, especially if it's too soon—unless he's crazy...or just calling your bluff. That's what my guy did."

"And it's a good thing he did, right?" Ishizu asked, referring to Mai's boyfriend Valon, who had taken Mai's bluff as a challenge.

Mai smiled and nodded, hugging one of Ishizu's throw pillows to her chest. "And I stuck around because I thought of it as a new game to play, and I thought that I could outlast him," she said, gazing at the ceiling. "But sometime during our game of chicken, I learned that I actually liked him, and there was no point in trying to scare him off. But that's a story for another time."

"And you'll have to tell me sometime," Ishizu said as Mai put the pillow back in its place and stood up.

"Later," Mai said, smoothing down her shirt. Her smirk returned, and she asked, "So you sure you're not gonna pretend to be the psycho girlfriend?"

Ishizu smiled and shook her head at her friend, saying, "No."

"I tell you," Mai said, "it's a lot of fun."

"And what if he calls my bluff?" Ishizu asked, even though she knew that it was improbable that Bakura would do such a thing.

"Then that's when you show him the door," Mai replied simply, "seeing how you're done with playing games. Fine, do it the boring way; be honest. And gimme a call if he gives you trouble. I'll back you up."

Ishizu laughed as her friend exited her room. "Okay, Mai. Thanks."

/

Ishizu had waited a few more days after her talk with Mai before letting Bakura back in, and the first words he said when he stepped into her dwelling were, "I was starting to think that you were sick." He noticed how Ishizu stood with crossed arms and how she stared at the coffee table with a movie she planned on seeing after he left, and he asked, "Anything the matter?"

Ishizu looked at Bakura and really saw him for the first time. No, she thought to herself as she looked him over. There was no chance of their relationship turning into anything serious. The closest Bakura had ever come to smiling in the span of time they had known each other was just a proud smirk here and there, and the only warmth that ever came from him was from his natural body heat.

Ishizu's thoughts turned to Mai's suggestion of lying to scare him off. Ishizu realized that she could tell him that she was picking their future children's names if she wanted to, and Bakura would have no reason to push back with his own bluff. Valon had known that Mai was toying with him, and he had toyed right back at Mai for the fun of it, but Ishizu knew that Bakura would have no patience for games like that.

So Ishizu knew it was best that she was straightforward. She glanced at the movie on the coffee table one last time before looking at Bakura calmly and saying, "There's something I need to tell you."


End file.
